Preview: Crystal Palace vs West Bromwich Albion

12 May 2018

Sunday will see Palace play their 350th Premier League game, a total that will be added to next season after Roy Hodgson and his team masterminded their survival with a game to spare as a remarkable campaign comes its conclusion.

However, this afternoon’s match will be West Bromwich Albion’s last in the top-flight for at least a year after their relegation was confirmed on Tuesday. They will be looking to finish on a high, and they boast an impressive record at Selhurst Park with Palace only winning three of their last 14 home matches against the Baggies.

However, the Eagles have plenty to play for, including the prospect of equalling their best ever Premier League finish of 10th, and trying to avoid missing out on prize money by slipping a few places in the table.

Too little, too late for Baggies

Despite the heroics performed by caretaker boss Darren Moore, who was awarded the Premier League Manager of the Month award after winning three and drawing two of his five games in charge, the Baggies have now been consigned to the drop, ending their seven-year stay in the top-flight.

They come into this game with the exact same unbeaten record as Palace from their last five games, but what makes Albion’s all the more impressive is that they managed to secure victories over Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur, as well as hold UEFA Champions League finalists Liverpool to a goalless draw a fortnight ago, but the damage had already been done.

Two former Palace bosses in Tony Pulis and Alan Pardew were shown the door during a disappointing season at The Hawthorns, but it seems that club legend Moore looks likely to get the chance to begin the rebuilding job.

View From The Opposition

Darren Moore: “It’s very, very important we finish the season on a high. It’s been that way in recent weeks and we’ve got some wonderful results against some really good football clubs.

“All five games have been excellent results and we continue to work on extending that.

“We’ve still got a real big game ahead of us.

“I do feel it’s really important that you gain momentum and I think every other Premier League manager would tell you the same.

“We need to keep that mentality going in the football club. It would be great to go six games unbeaten as the games have been difficult. We’ve focussed on making sure our planning and preparation has been good this week."

Team News

Ahead of this game Roy Hodgson has said that he has the majority of his squad available with only Scott Dann and Bakary Sako missing with their long term injuries.

Gareth Barry and James Morrison are Albion's only concerns, with the midfield pair out with knee and achilles injuries respectively.

Matchday Officials

Its a fifth and final Palace appointment for Jonathan Moss for this game, with the official also overseeing the campaign's opener against Huddersfield Town. Palace haven't won any of other games he's refereed this term - drawing against Manchester City and Bournemouth and losing to Everton.

Matchday Stats

The Eagles have kept a clean sheet in each of their last two Premier League meetings with West Brom - only against Aston Villa (2005-2014) and QPR (1994-2014) have they recorded three successive games without conceding in the competition.

Palace have won on both occasions they've finished the Premier League campaign at home, beating Sheffield Wednesday in 1997-98 and Swansea in 2014-15.

Crystal Palace have lost just one of their last seven Premier League games (W4 D2), winning the last two in a row. They've not won three consecutively since a run of four in April 2017.

The Eagles have won 15 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season - only in 2014-15 (21) have they won more in a single campaign.

The Baggies have only won one of their previous 11 matches on the final day of a Premier League campaign (D6 L4), beating Portsmouth in 2004/05 to avoid relegation.

Wilfried Zaha has scored four goals in his last five Premier League appearances.

Head-to-Head

Palace wins

Draws

West Brom wins

League

16

15

22

FA Cup

1

0

0

League Cup

0

0

1

Total

17

15

23

Tickets

Tickets for this game are sold out.

Matchday Information

All the opening times and information surrounding events around the ground pre and post-match can be found in our matchday guide.

Advice for fans travelling to Selhurst Park can be found in our supporters guide.

Live Coverage

If you can’t make it to Selhurst Park, there will be live commentary on Palace Player, for which a 24-hour pass can be purchased if you aren't an annual subscriber.

There will also be updates on Twitter, and highlights available on Palace TV from midnight on Sunday morning.

Report: Crystal Palace 2-0 West Bromwich Albion

13 May 2018

Palace ended their season by cruising to victory against West Bromwich Albion, finishing the campaign in 11th spot after extending their unbeaten run to six games.

After a drab first half, Player of the Season Wilfried Zaha capped a fine campaign by opening the scoring with his ninth goal of the season, before Patrick van Aanholt netted for the third game in succession to secure the points for Roy Hodgson’s team.

In textbook final day of the season conditions with the sun shining and fans decked out in t-shirts, Palace started positively and nearly found a way in front after seven minutes when Luka Milivojevic played a one-two with Yohan Cabaye to create a sight of goal, but was unable to extend his lead at the top of the Eagles' goalscoring charts as he slammed his shot just wide.

Albion, playing only for pride after their relegation had been confirmed earlier in the week, also saw a Grzegorz Krychowiak shot meet the same fate not long after, but that would be as threatening as they would be throughout a quiet contest that had an end-of-season feel to it.

Palace controlled proceedings from then on but during the first half they couldn't create many more dangerous moments themselves, although they did force Ben Foster into a smart save on 18 minutes when Aaron Wan-Bissaka stole the ball from Ahmed Hegazi on the touchline and found James McArthur in the box, and he squared for Zaha who saw the former England international save his snapshot with his feet.

That was as good as the first half got, but the Eagles started the second much sharper and it was one-way traffic for the majority of it. Early into proceedings after the restart Zaha cut back for Ruben Lotus-Cheek but the midfielder couldn’t quite end his loan spell with a goal as he shot straight at Foster, and minutes later Zaha screwed wide after connecting with a Van Aanholt pass.

They then carved out a golden chance on 62 minutes when Andros Townsend found Zaha on the halfway line who slipped past Craig Dawson and sped towards the box, and he unselfishly returned the ball to his strike partner who was faced with only Foster to beat, but Townsend fired well wide.

But with 20 minutes to go, the deadlock was broken. Once again focussing their attacks down the left, Loftus-Cheek drove from halfway and fed Van Aanholt on the left flank, and his centre was side-footed home from eight yards out by a gleeful Zaha to register his fifth in his last six Premier League games.

After that it was just a case of how many the Eagles wanted to end their season with, and with 12 minutes to go they doubled their lead with another well-worked, intricate team goal. Cabaye picked up the ball in a good area and found Townsend, and he played a one-two with Loftus-Cheek on the edge of the box before slipping in Van Aanholt, and the Dutchman rounded Foster before finding enough pace on his shot for it to creep over the line, despite the despairing efforts of Hegazi on the line.

With the points in the bag, Pape Souare was handed his first Premier League appearance since September 2016 as a late substitute as the curtain came down on another remarkable, and ultimately successful, season in SE25.